Road

Take the Challenge, Ride a Sportive

What is a Sportive?

Many people mis-interpret what a sportive is. Sportives are personal challenge rides allowing you to test your legs without the hassle of having to plan a route yourself. Routes usually range from 20 to 100+ miles, with events running more or less every weekend up and down the country.

Sportives are a great way to take your cycling to the next level if you are a regular commuter, take part in led rides, go on weekend rides with friends or simply looking for an opportunity to get out on the bike where all you have to worry about it turning up.

Some key features of a sportive are:

Pre event entry is available for most sportives allowing you to plan for the event, and receive communcations from the event organiser before the day

Start and finish location, with most sportives offering pre and post food or drinks

Scenic routes acorss the country, allowing you to discover and enjoy roads you never knew existed

Fully signed posted route, taking away the worry of planning and navigating your way around a route yourself.

Manned feedstations along the way to allow you to have a rest, re fuel and chat to other riders at the event

Multiple ride distances to choose from, allowing you to pick based on what you want to do.

The majority of sportives offer chip timing so you can see how long it has taken to complete a certain route. This helps if you are using sportives as a training aid for another upcoming goal or event.

Event contact details for you to use whilst out on the route, offering peace of mind one of the event team will be on hand should you need.

The majority of sportives offer a particiaption medal, goody bag or certificate upon completion for you to show friends and family you took on and completed the challenge!

Interested? Let British Cycling help you find an event right for you…

Sportives are great to ride if you are looking for a challenge yourself, or looking for an event you and fellow cyclists are looking to take on.

Club riders, Breeze Champions and riders, Gudied Ride Leaders, commuters, every day cyclists, returning cyclists etc all take part in sportives. They are attractive to a wide audience due to the nature of the events. Some ride for health reasons, some for the social side, some to challenge themselves or train for another event, and some to raise money for charity.

Whatver the reason, our sportive calendar helps you find your perfect ride with hundreds of events to choose from nationwide. Simply enter your search criteria on the filter options to discover the available rides whichmay suit you. View and enter events online to secure your place on the event you fancy. It's that easy!

Most sportives on our calendar are also given a grading score, so you can compare the level of challenge across multiple events to choose one perfect for you.